The present invention relates to a grouting method for depositing grout between a series of pre-positioned floor tiles and for removing excess grout from the upper surfaces of the tiles in order to finish the laying of a tile floor.
Grout is a mixture of particulate material such as plaster or other desiccated inorganic minerals and water. Plaster of Paris for example is dehydrated gypsum which when mixed with water evolves heat, quickly solidifies, and expands slightly. Such mixtures can be employed for providing the grout between prepositioned tiles in order to form a hard water resistant surface for such tiles. A similar technique can be employed with these materials for finishing large areas which are to be covered by large sized tiles. In this application the grout for plaster is used for filling the cracks between the large area tiles.
The dominant method of filling the cracks between the tiles or between larger areas such as presented by wall board sheeting is to lay in the grout with a hand trowel tool. This method is also used for patching masonry walls and plastered walls. Heretofore, there has been no mechanized means for placing the grout in the cracks and removing any excess grout which may be spread by a depositing device.
A machine for grouting prepositioned tiles would have great utility in finishing the large floor areas now being used in high density public areas such as shopping malls, building fouriers, and underground passageways.
Machinery for laying down grouting materials in the cracks between pavement slabs has of course been evolved. U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,652 to Newton et al shows such a machine but this machine is not designed to remove any excess grout since none was contemplated. This machine was not designed for use with positioned floor tiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 145,459 to Stevens and Watson shows a plastering machine which is adapted for broad area plastering but not for the plastering of cracks. U.S. Pat. No. 1,795,660 to Mayer shows a street marking machine which lays down a marking material but does not provide for the removal of any of the material so deposited.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,790 shows a curb and gutter laying machine which does not provide a grout removal means. There is no disclosure of removing part of the curb or gutter once formed in situ.
Various floor care machines have been presented which deposit either a cleaning solution or wax or other surface protecting materials. U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,331 to McNeely shows a bowling-lane maintenance machine which deposits a lane dressing compound but does not provide for the removal of any of the deposited material.
Also involved with the floor care type of machines are various scrubbing and polishing machines such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 1,176,990 to Scherff et al. The scrubbing machine shown by this patent does not provide for the depositing of any grout material. The excess water from the scrubbing operation is taken up by a mopping roller 34 which requires the water to be drawn through a sponge rolled into a vacuumed take up core. This type of take-up device is of course inoperative for handling grout slurries due to their thick consistency. The particular matter would quickly clog the take-up mopping roller and render it inoperative.
The floor care type of cleaning machines do not provide for the depositing of grouting material and thus are not concerned with the removal of excess grout which contains a high particular matter content. Rather simple take up brushes and rollers or vacuum pickup lines can thus be used because of the low density of the fluid being taken up. Representative U.S. Pat. are: Nos. 3,869,749 to London et al which shows a dirt and water vacuum pickup apparatus for escalators; 977,701 to Broberg which shows a rotating mopping roller; U.S. Pat. No. 870,454 to McCabe et al which shows a pressed sponge roller arrangement for taking up the dirty water; U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,453 to Price which shows a high speed revolution brush for throwing the dirt and water up onto an overhead collector surface 21 for retaining the dirt taken up from the floor. This latter type of apparatus could not be used for a thick grout slurry.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,269 to Williams shows a floor sweeper which also has a flailing type brush used with a collector pan.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,354 to Johnson discloses a method of producing tile panels in which there is no provision of a removal means adapted for removing excess grout from tile surfaces.
The prior art has not provided a machine which has the capability of both laying down a grout material into the cracks between positioned floor tile and for then removing excess grout from the upper surfaces of the tiles. Such a machine would have a number of advantages in that the laborious task of hand troweling grout between the tile cracks could be drastically reduced. More consistent grout application and stronger and longer lasting tile joints would be possible at the same time. Such a machine would result in the savings of grout because a large percentage of the applied grout in the hand-troweling process is discarded as the tile artisan fills and smooths out the grout from around the individual tiles.
Another important aspect of such a tile grouting machine is that the tile laying process could be carried out at lower cost and would therefore be more competitive with respect to other types of floor surfaces which are less attractive and less wear resistant but do not require the use of grouting.